Training

Heritage Awareness Diving Seminar (HADS)


The Heritage Awareness Diving Seminar is intended to explain the advantages of conserving shipwrecks and other submerged cultural resources, not only to preserve information about our collective past, but also to preserve the vibrant ecosystems that grow around historic shipwrecks. HADS focuses on providing scuba training agency Course Directors, Instructor Trainers, and Instructors with a greater knowledge of how to proactively protect shipwrecks, artificial reefs, and other underwater cultural sites as part of the marine environment. HADS consists of two evenings of classroom instruction and one day of open water diving; Virtual HADS consists of two evenings of classroom instruction.

Participants receive the HADS workbook and access to all PowerPoint presentations to use in their own classes. Upon completion of the course, participants can teach the new Heritage Awareness Diving Specialty Course, approved by PADI, NAUI, and SDI, as well as incorporate underwater historic preservation into other courses. HADS is taught in partnership with the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research.

Contact Dr. Della Scott-Ireton at dscottireton@uwf.edu for more information about HADS.

The classroom sessions include a series of lectures and discussions on:

  • Maritime archaeology, shipwrecks, and underwater heritage tourism
  • Issues in conservation: take only photos and leave only bubbles
  • Laws pertaining to submerged cultural resources: international, federal, and state
  • Teaching outline and classroom modules for your training organization
  • And more…